Friday Night Lights Part I: Jaguars are shut out in a bad way at Lester Prairie

It was a tough game at Lester Prairie tonight for the Jaguars football team in their season opener.

Throughout the first half, it was apparent that the Jaguars were going to struggle to put up points tonight. With 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, the Bulldogs held a 14-0 lead that stood up to halftime.

Final score: LP/HT 34, B-B-E 0. The Jaguars were stopped twice at the goal line. A couple bright spots I noticed in the game stats...they managed 157 yards rushing and had zero turnovers on the night. Also, five different receivers caught passes totaling 74 yards. I'm sure the Jaguars understand that 231 yards of offense won't cut it in the Central Minnesota Conference.

The other seven CMC teams went 4-3 in non-conference action tonight, mostly against pretty solid competition.

The Jaguars regroup next week and search for their first win at Kimball Area, who is flying high right now after picking up a 49-0 win over Spectrum tonight. Before anyone raises an eyebrow over that score, you must realize that it was the first-ever game for Spectrum, who is in the first year of having a varsity football team.

Spectrum is a public charter school in Elk River. They had a shared varsity football team in 2009 with PACT Charter.

Area football scores during Week 1:
Sauk Centre 46, Yellow Medicine East 6
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 34, Minnewaska Area 7 (the Lakers led 7-6 at halftime against the host Tigers at Big Cat Stadium in Morris)
Pierz 28, Melrose Area 7
Kimball Area 49, Spectrum 0
St. Cloud Cathedral 14, Holdingford 6
Watertown-Mayer 52, Rockford 20
Mayer Lutheran 49, Eden Valley-Watkins 19
Maple Lake 47, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 6 (G/N-K was a Class 3A state entrant last year)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 19, Norwood-Young America 12 (HL-W-W takes a solid 1st step towards erasing memories of a 2-7 season in 2011; NYA is now a 3A school)
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 18, Osakis 8 (a nice start to the Fighting Saints' season)
Upsala/Swanville Area 33, New York Mills 15
Adrian 27, MACCRAY 13
Royalton 19, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 14
Paynesville Area 42, Montevideo 0 (Monte had 40 hards from scrimmage! Ouch.)
Lac qui Parle Valley 21, Benson 20
Barnesville 34, Browerville 6
Zimmerman 37, Albany 22
New London-Spicer 41, Mound-Westonka 7
Wadena-Deer Creek 28, West Central Area 16


This Friday Night Lights Part I football update is brought to you by the proud support of:

Football season opener game preview: LP/HT

Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity finished the 2011 season with a 9-2 record. They won the Section 4A championship and lost a nailbiter 35-34 in the Class A state quarterfinals to Blooming Prairie. In regular season play, they won a share of the Gopher Valley Conference title.

The Bulldogs edged the Jaguars 22-21 in the Section 4A semifinals before beating Kimball Area 22-14 in overtime in the section title game.

The Bulldogs have 13 players returning from last year with starting experience. Five of those 13 are just juniors this year and started as 10th graders last year.

B-B-E, meanwhile, has six returning players on offense. Two are senior captains Patrick Rooney and Ross Rath. The other two captains are juniors Austin Kollman and Brian Goodwin.

LP/HT head coach Joe Scoblic (in his 23rd season as head coach with a career record of 133-90) reported to the Howard Lake Herald Journal that a clear strength will be their offensive line, which he described as one of his best. They lost two linemen from the 2011 squad to graduation.

Another big loss to graduation was their bruising fullback, Sam Scoblic, who rushed for 1,000 yards his senior year.

Scoblic's report on the Section 4A field was as follows:

The Bulldogs will, once again, be in Section 4A, but the section will have a much different look in 2012.

Kimball, the team LP/HT defeated in the Section 4A title game last year is out, having moved up to Class 2A.

Teams which will challenge LP/HT for the right to go to the Class 1A state tournament should be Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, MACCRAY, and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

“All those teams are tough,” Scoblic said.

It should be another very exciting Section 4A tournament when the playoffs roll around.

Additional game preview notes will be added tonight! Stay tuned.

Random area sports notes as the fall seasons get underway

This upcoming year will be the first athletic year since 1981-82 that New London-Spicer won't be competing in the West Central Conference. NL-S will begin their new journey in the Wright County Conference this fall. Their football team, which went 6-3 last year, has 98 athletes on its 9th-12th grade varsity roster. Their head coach, Dan Essler (Brooten High School graduate), has a career record at NL-S of 68-50. His team won the 2009 Class AAA championship while finishing a perfect 14-0.

Prior to 1981, New London-Spicer was a member of the West Lake Conference along with the Belgrade Redmen, Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles, Atwater Panthers, K-M-S Fighting Saints and other local teams in central Minnesota.

NL-S has an MSHSL enrollment classification figure of 446. The largest Wright County Conference school, Waconia, has a figure of 996 for its MSHSL enrollment.

At Minnewaska, they have a mere 23 athletes suiting up for the football team in grades 10-12. Ouch.

More scenes from the Jaguars volleyball season opener

Celebrating a kill in game three against A-C-GC

Taylor Braegelman watches her kill shot sail over the net.

The next opponent for the Jaguars, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, will be playing in their season opener when they host B-B-E tomorrow night. The MA/CA Tigers finished 10-15 overall last season and lost in the first round of the Section 3AA playoffs. They have five seniors on their roster this year.

*Added early Thursday morning: here's the link to the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery from the volleyball match... 
http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1524688&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

In case you didn't read about it in the newspapers, the Jaguars football team opens up the Friday Night Lights season this Friday at Lester Prairie. I'll be previewing the game tomorrow. Stay tuned! It should be a dandy for fans who can make the trip.

In girls' tennis news, the B-B-E Jaguars lost 6-1 to 8th-ranked Foley at the Melrose Quad on Tuesday night. I don't have a score from the B-B-E vs. Little Falls match. I heard they didn't play Melrose due to how late it got after the earlier matches were completed.

In B-B-E Dazzlers dance team news, the Dazzlers will be hosting a car wash fundraiser on Labor Day next week. Here are the details from Coach Kulzer:
Please come out and support the B-B-E dance team on Monday September 3rd from 2-5pm by getting your car washed! Cost is free will donation! It will be at Cenex/Coops Corner in Belgrade! Please stop out and support these hardworking ladies!

Jaguars sweep 2012 volleyball season opener

It was a 3-0 win tonight for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team over the visiting Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons. Game scores were 25-15, 25-12, 25-11.

Up next: a trip to Morris on Thursday night for another non-conference match.

I just added the second video below, after noticing that this website was getting some nice props on the Sauk Centre Herald Facebook page. Awesome! Unfortunately in terms of my sports coverage, I had a very limited amount of time to catch the action in the gymnasium, as I was also occupied by the elementary school open house and getting my family's 6th grader acquainted with Mr. Hadley's classroom in the 5th-6th grade wing of the building.

Video from the end of the match, which took just over an hour to complete...

And another clip taken near the end of game three...the video quality is terrible unless you adjust the setting to 480-dpi...the lone 8th grader on the team, Hailey Braegelman, knocked down a kill during this clip.
 

More will follow later.

One neat thing I learned tonight was that preliminary enrollment figures at B-B-E show a remarkable climb over last year's numbers. There are numerous new students throughout the different grades, including my family's addition to the Class of 2019. Much to be proud of in Jaguar Country!

Area volleyball scores on August 28:
Albany 3, Foley 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Paynesville Area 2
Kimball Area 0, Ogilvie 0
Monticello 3, Maple Lake 1
Pierz 3, Aitkin 0
Melrose Area 3, Minnewaska Area 0

More from the Minnewaska tennis quad

No. 1 singles player Eva Lamprecht facing off against Montevideo...

Rain nixes football scrimmage

A strong shot of rain passed through central Minnesota on Saturday morning, resulting in the St. John's University football scrimmage ending early for the Jaguars. B-B-E's JV and varsity teams each ran off 20 plays before the rain hit after they began at 10:00am.

The B-B-E Youth Tackle football team practiced through a slow, steady rain in the latter half of their 90-minute session this morning at the elementary school field. Today they had their first taste of "live" tackling as well as running offense vs. defense.Their next practice is next Tuesday, the night of the elementary open house. As a result, practice will start early at 5:45, with punting and kicking practice beginning at 5:30. They'll be dismissed at 7:15 to allow time that night to get to their classrooms and settle in for the 2012-13 school year.

Photo gallery link from the Minnewaska Quad

Here's the link to the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery from Thursday's girls' tennis quadrangular at Minnewaska Area. http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1521771&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0
 

Cassandra Hoppe played four-singles at the Minnewaska Quad.

Although it was a quadrangular, the Jaguars officially only played one match out of the regular three due to a rain storm that passed through Pope County and over the Minnewaska High School on Thursday afternoon. It was the same storm that eventually went through the B-B-E area and delivered about a quarter inch of badly needed rain.

The Montevideo match was tied 3-3 in points, but the final point was never decided because of the rain. Cassandra Hoppe was heading into a tiebreaker for her match against the Thunderhawks when the meet was called.

Up next: a quadrangular at Melrose next Tuesday beginning at 1:30pm. Foley, Little Falls and the host Dutchmen will be B-B-E's three opponents. The Jaguars have a 1-3 overall record.

What's coming tomorrow: a football scrimmage including the Jaguars at St. John's University. I'm looking forward to it and will hopefully have some photos posted by tomorrow afternoon from Clemens Stadium. Other teams participating are Royalton, Kimball Area and Sleepy Eye.

I've got a question for you if you live, work or play in the B-B-E area: did you get your Jaguar Football card from a 9th-12th grade player? Colby Schramel, a freshmen, sold me two yesterday at my mechanic's shop in Belgrade. They are a heck of a deal!

Action from today's Minnewaska Quad

Jordan Gruendemann competing at two-singles against Montevideo...

Football scrimmage is Saturday

The B-B-E Jaguars football team gets a glimpse of what they have to work on in the final week of preseason practice when they travel to St. John's University on Saturday at Clemens Stadium.

Action begins at 10:00am. The season opener is on Friday, August 31 in Lester Prairie - the same location that their season ended in 2011.

Jaguar youth tackle football gets underway

(Video) From some of the early drills at Tuesday night's practice for the 5th-6th grade youth tackle football Jaguars...

Another clip from the Belgrade August Fest activities

From the latter part of the Belgrade August Fest grand parade on August 11...click to view: http://www.saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=94&SubSectionID=381&NewsVideoID=145

 I'll be wrapping up photo/video coverage from all summer activities over the next week. Then it's switching full gear towards fall sports coverage at B-B-E.

Jaguar girls' tennis team picks up first win

The Jaguars came home from Milbank with a 7-2 win under their belts for their first victory of the year. They now have a break before a quadrangular at the Minnewaska Area high school tennis courts on Thursday.

Other teams that were there last year included Parkers Prairie and Montevideo.

In amateur baseball news, Lake Henry drubbed Union Hill 9-3 on Saturday in St. Cloud to advance to the second round of the Class C state tournament. They face Sobieski at 8:00pm next Friday at Joe Faber Field.

(Video) Action against LP-GE/USA on Friday

During the 2-singles match against the Thunder girls' tennis team...

It was the season opener for both squads. The Jaguars (0-2) traveled to Milbank today for a JV and Varsity meet against the Bulldogs.

Jaguar girls' tennis falls in tight contest in season opener

The Jaguars celebrate winning a point at 2-doubles against Benson/K-M-S.

 
In their first match today, the Jaguars girls' tennis team lost 4-3 to LP-GE/USA in a game that had multiple third sets and tiebreaker sets to decide the outcome.

They faced B/K-M-S in the second match of the day.

More will follow later.

It's a triangular after all

(Sort of)

Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg will make the trip to B-B-E tomorrow morning to face the Jaguars in season-opening action at the high school tennis courts.

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area is B-B-E's first opponent, and their match starts at 8:30am. Then Benson/K-M-S will play the Jaguars in the second match.

Benson/K-M-S and LP-GE/USA won't play one another.

School starts soon!

The B-B-E Elementary Open House will be held on Tuesday night, August 28 from 6:00 to 8:00pm. Also that night is the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team's season opener against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. That match takes place at 7:15pm (varsity).

While those activities are taking place, the B-B-E Post Prom Committee will be selling/serving grilled hot dogs, Pep's Pork ribs and chips in meal form. Funds will help support the 2013 B-B-E Post Prom activities.

More scenes from Belgrade's August Fest

The Belgrade V.F.W. Color Guard. Thank you for your great service!

The outgoing Miss Belgrade royalty.

A handful of B-B-E Boy Scouts.

More from the grand parade...
 

Jaguar football working through preseason drills

...on Monday morning near the end of their first day of practice...

More scenes from Belgrade's August Fest

Jordan Gruendemann accepts her crown as the new Miss Belgrade during the program on Saturday night.

Change for the girls' tennis triangular

Coach Borgerding reported that Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd has pulled out of the upcoming season-opening meet this Friday at the B-B-E High School. As a result, it will be a dual meet against Long Prairie/Grey Eagle-Upsala-Swanville Area.

Also, turnout for the varsity football ranks is 55 as of day one of official preseason practice. Wow!

Link to photo gallery from the Miss Belgrade program

Here's the link: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1515941&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

A few quick notes on the fall sports seasons

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had a successful tour through the Breakdown preseason tournament a couple weekends ago in the Twin Cities. They went 3-3 and defeated Blaine, Eden Prairie and Mayer Lutheran for their three wins. The season opener is Tuesday, August 28 at home vs. A-C-GC.

The B-B-E Jaguars football team had an incredible turnout for their summer camps recently completed, and a total of 45 athletes took part in the varsity-level camp. Fall sports seasons officially kick off tomorrow (Monday) with varsity practices for the girls' tennis, football and volleyball teams.

This Friday, August 17, the Jaguars girls' tennis team hosts a triangular at the high school courts beginning with an 8:30am match against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala/Swanville. The second match pits LP-GE/USA against Lac qui Parle Valley, and the Jaguars face LQPV in the third match of the day beginning around noon. The triangular marks the beginning of Colleen (Radermacher) Borgerding's tenure as the head coach of the program. She is a former B-B-E Jaguar standout in girls' tennis before graduating in 2005.

More from August Fest yesterday in Belgrade

The B-B-E Wrestling Club had two entries in the parade, including this hayrack that carried a pack of youth wrestlers.

The entire parade route had large crowds of people gathered on both sides of Lowry Avenue.

 
All types of games and activities were keeping youth of all ages entertained during the day...

Here's the link to a photo gallery from the grand parade and a few activities immediately afterwards: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1515671&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

What a day...

In a nutshell...

The Elrosa Saints lost their bid for a state tournament berth in a 4-1 loss to Lake Henry earlier today in the Region 15C tournament. Later in the afternoon, New Munich ended Spring Hill's season by a 4-0 score. Then New Munich tagged Lake Henry with an 11-5 loss that gave the Lakers the number four seed from Region 15C in the upcoming Class C amateur baseball tournament.

On to Belgrade's August Fest...the Miss Belgrade coronation was held at the B-B-E High School auditorium before a packed crowd. Jordan Wieberdink was crowned Miss Belgrade, with Meagan Korf and Jesseca Cobb earning Belgrade Princess titles.  

Here's the start of the grand parade in Belgrade this afternoon...

Belgrade August Fest is this weekend

The fun and excitement of the Belgrade August Fest starts on Friday night with the Firemen's Chicken Dinner from 4:30 to 7:30pm at the Belgrade V.F.W.

Tonight a Concert in the Park will be held as a prelude to August Fest at the Pool Park in Belgrade from 7:00 to 8:30pm. Dennis Amundson will provide entertainment with a Tribute to Neil Diamond and a variety of other music. Ice cream will be served. The event is an effort of the Belgrade Economic Development Authority and the B-B-E Area Jaycees.

More action from the Pacesetter Sweet 16 on Saturday

Coach Heinsius gives directions to the Jaguars during a timeout against Hayfield on Saturday. The Jaguars were holding a 71-63 lead that stood to the final buzzer with 37 seconds to go at this point.

James Kuefler skies for a blocked shot.

More scenes from the Region 15C tournament

Aaron Vogt started for the Elrosa Saints and pitched eight innings against Paynesville in their region opener.

The Elrosa Saints resume Region 15C action next Saturday at Richmond with an 11:00am game against Lake Henry. The loser is out; the winner goes to state.

Photo album link to some of Saturday's region baseball action

Click on the link to see photos from the Spring Hill and Elrosa openers of the Region 15C tournament: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1512621&CategoryID=69415&ListSubAlbums=0

Jaguars take 6th at Pacesetter state tournament

The Jaguars beat Faribault Bethlehem Academy in the consolation semifinals earlier today and then lost a close game to Class 3A Austin in the consolation championship game at St. Ben's.

More to follow later.

Also, the Elrosa Saints play Lake Henry in an elimination game next Saturday in Richmond at 11:00am. If they win, they punch a ticket to the Class C state amateur baseball tournament.

From St. Ben's yesterday...

Saints win in 15!

Elrosa won 4-3 in 15th innings over Paynesville in their Region 15C-opening game at Richmond on Saturday afternoon. The game actually ended in the evening hours, just a little after 5:00pm.

In the final game held at Richmond today, New London-Spicer beat Farming 1-0.

In the nightcap against Richmond, the Saints are trailing 1-0 with four innings complete at Ray Weber Field in St. Martin. *With six innings complete, the Royals hold a 3-0 lead. Brady Weller, Elrosa's starter, threw the first 7 innings before Greenwald draftee Brandon Worms took the mound in the 8th.

*Update at 11:00pm...the Royals put another run across for a 4-0 lead. Elrosa catcher Steve Mueller was ejected from the game. A circus atmosphere ensued.

*Update at 11:20pm: Elrosa lost 5-0 to Richmond, with the Saints' bats falling prey to a 16-strikeout, complete-game effort by Andy Bauer. As bad as I hate seeing Elrosa lose, you can't help but tip your hat to that type of pitching performance.

Elrosa Saints are battling in extra innings against Paynesville

It's in the 12th inning against Paynesville in the Region 15C amateur baseball playoffs. The score has been tied 3-3 since the third inning. Elrosa took a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st, then the Pirates came back to trail 3-2 after one complete.

In other region games played today: Richmond edged Spring Hill 3-2, and New Munich prevailed in 13 innings over Lake Henry by a 5-4 score.

From the dugout before the game...
 

Update at 4:45pm: Elrosa is battling Paynesville in the bottom of the 13th inning with the score still tied at 3-3; Dustin Breitbach is pitching for the Saints in relief of starter Aaron Vogt, who went eight innings.

Update at 5:00pm: it's going to 15 innings!

Jaguars make Elite Eight at Sweet 16!

The B-B-E Jaguars defeated Hayfield 71-63 in the first round of the Pacesetter Sweet 16 state boys' basketball tournament. In the second round, they took on Blake and lost 54-48 in an excellent ball game where the Jaguars were missing two of their players who were in Richmond playing for the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team.

They get two more games tomorrow (Sunday) back at St. Ben's.

Pope County Fair 4-H Sheep Show

Held on Thursday night...

Good luck to the B-B-E boys' basketball team this weekend

The Jaguars boys' basketball team competes in the invitation-only Sweet 16 Pacesetters tournament on Saturday and Sunday at St. Ben's University in St. Joseph. They open up the tournament with a first-round game against Class AA Hayfield at 10:00am.